Step 2: Practice Managing Site Objects

Updated: August 24, 2007

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

You can use sites in Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) to represent the physical structure, or topology, of your network. You can use the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in to connect to your AD LDS instance so that you can define site objects. You can then move the directory objects of AD LDS instances that are located in each area of the network into the corresponding site object. Managing site objects includes the following tasks:

In the following exercise, you create site objects for your first AD LDS instance and your replica AD LDS instance.

Membership in Administrators, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at Local and Domain Default Groups (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477).

Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Sites and Services.

In the console tree, right-click Active Directory Sites and Services, and then click Change Domain Controller. Specify the name and the port number of the server that holds the AD LDS instances in the configuration set for which you want to create site objects.

For the purpose of this exercise, select the server name and the port number of your original or replica AD LDS instance.

Note

For more information about connecting to an AD LDS instance using the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in, see "Step 3: Practice Using AD LDS Administration Tools" in the Step-by-Step Guide for Getting Started with Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=98679).

In the console tree, right-click Sites, and then click New Site.

In Name, type a common name (CN) for the new site, for example, Site1.

Under Link Name, click DEFAULTIPSITELINK, and then click OK.

Repeat steps 3 and 4, this time creating a site object for your replica AD LDS instance. For the purpose of this guide, you can name the new site object Site2.

Note

You do not have to connect to your replica AD LDS instance to complete step 6. Multimaster replication makes it possible for you to make changes to AD LDS directory data (common configuration directory partition and common schema directory partition) on any AD LDS instance within a configuration set. AD LDS then replicates these changes to other members of the configuration set automatically.

Note

At this point, your original AD LDS instance and your replica AD LDS instance are in the same site; therefore, all changes to your AD LDS directory objects are still subject to rapid intrasite replication.

In the following exercise, you move your original AD LDS instance into site object Site1 and your replica AD LDS instance into site object Site2.

Membership in Administrators, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at Local and Domain Default Groups (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477).

Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Sites and Services.

In the console tree, right-click Active Directory Sites and Services, and then click Change Domain Controller. Specify the name and the port number of the server that holds the AD LDS instances in the configuration set for which you want to create site objects.

For the purpose of this exercise, select the server name and the port number of your original or replica AD LDS instance.

Note

For more information about connecting to an AD LDS instance using the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in, see "Step 3: Practice Using AD LDS Administration Tools" in the Step-by-Step Guide for Getting Started with Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=98679).

In the console tree, double-click the Sites container, double-click the site that contains the AD LDS instance that you want to move (by default, CN=Default-First-Site-Name), and then double-click the Servers container.

In the Servers container, right-click the AD LDS instance that you want to move, and then click Move.

For the purpose of this guide, select your original AD LDS instance.

In the Move Server dialog box, select the site to which you want to move the AD LDS instance, and then click OK.

For the purpose of this guide, select Site1 and Server1 in the Move Server dialog box.

You do not have to connect to your replica AD LDS instance to complete step 6. Multimaster replication makes it possible for you to make changes to AD LDS directory data (common configuration directory partition and common schema directory partition) on any AD LDS instance within a configuration set. AD LDS then replicates these changes to other members of the configuration set automatically.

AD LDS preserves bandwidth by allowing you to minimize the frequency of replication within a site object.

Membership in Administrators, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at Local and Domain Default Groups (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477).

Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Sites and Services.

In the console tree, right-click Active Directory Sites and Services, and then click Change Domain Controller. Specify the name and the port number of the server that holds the AD LDS instances in the configuration set for which you want to create site objects.

For the purpose of this exercise, select the server name and the port number of your original or replica AD LDS instance.

Note

For more information about how to connect to an AD LDS instance using the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in, see "Step 3: Practice Using AD LDS Administration Tools" in the Step-by-Step Guide for Getting Started with Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=98679).

In the console tree, double-click the Sites container, and then click the site container in which the instance resides.

For the purpose of this guide, click the site container Site1.

In the details pane, right-click CN=NTDS Site Settings, and then click Properties.

In the Properties dialog box, navigate to Site Settings tab, and then click Change Schedule.

In the Schedule for NTDS Site Settings dialog box, select the block of time for which you want to schedule replication, and then click None, Once per Hour, Twice per Hour, or Four Times per Hour as the replication frequency.